Investigators say that around 1:00 Monday afternoon a male suspect wearing women’s clothing entered the jewelry store and tried to rob it. The clerk shot the suspect; the suspect returned fire and then took off on foot. The store owner’s son says he’s glad his father had a gun because it saved his life.Keith Bradberry, 'Porky' Bradberry's son: “You could tell, without a doubt that it was a man.”Investigators say the suspect is a man but Keith Bradberry says when he came into his father’s jewelry store, Porky Bradberry's Jewelry. The robber was dressed like a woman.Bradberry: “He was wearing a dress, had a pocket book, blouse, and came in to sell an item of jewelry”The robber tried to sell them a gold cross, and then, Bradberry says, the man in a dress pulled out a gun.Bradberry: “We checked the gold and told him the amount he would pay, my dad told me to get the money, and when I stood up from back here to get the money is when he demanded all the money and for us to get on the floor.”

The store owner, Porky Bradberry, then reached for his gun.

Bradberry: “When he took his attention off my dad to go on me to get on the floor, that’s when my dad had the opportunity to shoot him.”

Bullets flew, shattering glass. Both men were wounded.

Outside, the suspect left a trail of blood. At some point police say he got in a car and began to change his clothes.

Lt. David Turno, Aiken Department of Public Safety: “It appears he got into Aiken Estates neighborhood, it’s a large neighborhood, he couldn’t find his way out. He was driving around different areas and tossing items out on the road. He did eventually find his way out.”

The bloodhounds and a SLED helicopter were called out to follow the robber’s trail. After searching for several hours, investigators located Fortenberry at an Augusta hospital seeking treatment for his gunshot wounds.

Store owners say that nothing like this has ever happened to their store, and in the future they plan to beef up security so it doesn’t happen again.jewelryjewelryjewelryjewelryjewelryjewelryjewelryjewelryjewelryjewelry